National Treasure Redux v5
by White N Nerdy
Summary: REPOST-sort of. It's the film “National Treasure” with a just-when-you-thought-you-couldn’t-take-it-anymore new twist. Ian has kidnapped Riley outside of Ben’s dad’s house...and the stuff that didn't happen in the other reduxes happens.
1. Stupid Duct Tape

**National Treasure: Redux v5**

_Rated T for violence and language._

**Foreword**

_This is part five of my "National Treasure: You Pick the Adventure" aka "National Treasure: A Different Kind of Adventure" repost. The story was first posted throughout June of 2008 and deleted early in November. I'm reposting the storylines into separate stories, by request from the many people who read and enjoyed the original story during its brief four month run here on the site. Please read and review again, even if you did last time. Thank you :)_

I've saved the best for last—that's right, the one you were all waiting for—it's the pizza story that doesn't end with Riley dying! See even with the poll and stuff, I kinda always knew I was going to repost everything, I just wasn't sure how or when.

I think overall that these stories worked much better in their originally posted format, rather than as separate stories. Maybe it was how I decided to edit them with some stories missing stuff that sort of took away from each of them being a good, complete stand alone story. I dunno. Whatever. Just want to point out here to that my usual quirks and references are not in each separate story, because I still count the reduxes as being one story.

Anywho…enjoy the redux finale! Read and review…or don't. I don't even give a crap anymore :)

**Chapter I: Stupid Duct Tape…**

Riley threw open the back door to his old red van and tossed the roll of duct back in amongst the mess of wires and computer parts. Stupid duct tape, wasted on Ben's stupid dad. Riley really wished Ben would have agreed to use the tape on the mean Declaration lady. She practically stole the show with the whole invisible code on the back of the Declaration of Independence thing. She wasn't even supposed to be on their treasure hunt. But now, just cause she knew what a…a whatever cipher it was, Ben thought she was great.

Stupid Ben. Stupid Ben's dad. Stupid mean Declaration lady.

Riley grumbled angrily to himself as he reached into his van to get his laptop. Ben had said get the necessities, but Riley found it hard to part with any of his stuff. He'd practically lived out of his technologically pimped out ride since college when Ben invited him on his search for the Templar Treasure. Now he had to leave it here, tucked away in the dark corner of some parking lot a few blocks from Ben's dad's house just waiting for the feds to come pick it up. And Riley would never see it again.

On top of everything else, it was dark and cold outside, and Riley had left his jacket in the Gates' stuffy house. He was shivering, even with his hoodie still on. He absentmindedly glanced at his watch and groaned. It was after two o'clock in the morning. Way past Riley's bed time. And Riley knew, that Ben knew, that if Riley didn't get a good night's sleep, then Riley would be _very_ unhappy later.

He was wallowing in his own self pity so deeply that he didn't hear another car approaching until it was practically on top of him. He turned and immediately paled when he saw that he recognized the shiny catering van. It was a van with the words "Olympus" written in large blue letters on the sides that had he'd chased all over Washington D.C. That was Ian's van and it was coming, right at him, really fast…

"Holy crap!"

Riley reacted in a second, hopping up and into his van with a yelp, barely managing to get out of harm's way as Ian's vehicle stopped an inch away from Riley's van's bumper.

As soon as the disguised catering van came to a screeching halt three figures leapt out, leaving only the driver and front passenger inside. One of the three moved to the driver's seat of Riley's van, while the remaining two pushed their way into the back and slammed the door shut behind them.

"Hello there, Riley. Did Ben finally come to his senses and abandon you?"

Riley gulped. Ian and his most trusted henchman, Shaw, were staring him down. "No, no…I, uh, actually have to bring him some stuff, so I should probably get going…"

He started to get up but was shoved back down by Shaw's strong hand. Ian fished Riley's keys out of his hoodie pocket and passed them to the front. Then the engine started and the whole van pitched forward.

"Hey! Don't you guys have your own getaway car? Now you've gotta steal mine too?"

"Shut up, Riley," Ian barked.

"What? No way! I—"

But Riley's mouth snapped shut as Ian pulled a gun seemingly out of nowhere.

"Well if you're so eager to speak all the time, why don't you tell me what, exactly, our friend Ben has found on the Declaration."

"I, uh... …we found…nothing?" Riley tried sitting up again in an attempt to get out of the way of Ian's pistol, but was shoved onto this back again by Shaw, much harder this time. But Riley didn't like being shoved, or man handled in any form, so he batted at Shaw's large hands and kicked spastically at him, all the while yelling, "Hey! Quit it, man…get off me!"

Shaw did move away, but only so Ian could bash Riley across the cheek with the handle of his gun. Riley's head snapped to the side and he saw stars for a moment. Then suddenly he was being man handled again as his arms were pulled roughly behind him and forced together at his wrists with what he could only assume was his own duct tape. What a waste.

Ian shoved him onto his back again and Riley blinked up at him. He vaguely remembered wearing his glasses but suddenly they were gone and now the right side of his face was stinging painfully where he'd been pistol whipped. "What's your problem, man…" he slurred.

"I'll ask you again," Ian demanded. "What did Ben find on the Declaration?"

"I dunno," Riley muttered. He really wanted to pass out all of a sudden and ignore his aching cheek. Shaw yanked him up by his hair and he was jerked awake.

"Come on, Riley," Ian growled. "I know how much you love to run that mouth of yours, now why don't you tell me what I need to know and you won't get hurt."

Riley's terrified gaze met Ian's and he saw that the British man was serious. Dead serious. He swallowed hard. "Uh, it was just a…a bunch of numbers…some kind of cipher…I don't remember what it was though." He felt bad giving away even this much, but it wasn't enough for Ian to go by, and Riley was telling the truth when he said he didn't remember the numbers or what exactly they were for. He did remember having to go to Philadelphia, but Ian didn't need to know that.

"It was another clue? I thought it was supposed to be the map?"

Riley tried to shrug, but stopped when he realized how badly his shoulders hurt from his arms being pulled behind him. "So…if that was it, you can let me go right? And my van of course."

Ian sighed and shook his head. "No, I think it would be best for everyone if you stayed with us."

Riley blinked. "Um…what?"

"I need some sort of insurance. A bargaining chip if you will. Ben has the Declaration, and all the clues. I am clearly at a disadvantage. But this is where Ben and I differ—he cares too much, and I'm sure he will gladly give up any information he has in return for your safety. Frankly, I don't care what happens to you."

"What?! But…come on, Ian. We-we're buddies, right? You buy me a new computer, I help you and Ben out with treasure stuff. I-I let you beat me at poker. It's a win-win situation that seems to have worked for a while now and I think we should stick with it and—"

"Do you know what your problem is?"

Riley blinked at him, his mind still a little sluggish from the blow to his face. "That I'm so much smarter and better looking than you?" If he had, in fact, been completely conscious of his situation, he most likely would have said something else.

"No," Ian growled, apparently not amused by the comment. "It's your big mouth."

Riley jumped at a loud ripping sound coming from somewhere behind him. Before he could even respond, Shaw had reached around him with the duct tape and pulled a strip taught over his lips and around his head.

"That's better," he said smugly.

Ian nodded and grinned maniacally down at Riley, who glared miserably back up at him.

"Aw, don't look so down, kid. It's a win-win situation, after all. You don't say anything and I don't feel annoyed enough to kill you..."

Ian looked like he might have wanted to gloat some more, but he was suddenly interrupted by the rumble of a vibrating phone. Riley's eyes widened as he felt the small object in his jeans pocket. It must have been Ben, probably wondering what was taking so long. Ben would help him, Riley was sure of it.

Ian nodded to Shaw who patted down Riley's hips to find the phone. Riley shivered as hands snuck down his sides and reached into his pockets. Soon the little vibrating device was found and Shaw tossed it to Ian, who flipped it open.

* * *

"Benjamin Franklin Gates! I can't _believe_ you are doing this. You know, I hope they catch you…maybe then you'll finally learn your lesson!"

Ben rolled his eyes. "Yeah sure dad," he said as he found the book he was looking for nestled between some old history books. He was quick to hide it in his jacket. "Thank you Thomas Payne…"

"What? What did you say?" Patrick twisted himself as much as he could to see his son behind him.

"Nothing, dad." Ben moved to face his father, holding the remote control for the television out to his free hand. "I'm sorry about this, I really am, but it's something I have to do. Just…" he sighed. "Take care, dad."

With that he left the living room where his father was sitting, confined to his chair with a soda in one hand and the television remote in the other. Ben met Abigail in the entrance hall to the home and grinned disarmingly at her. She raised her eyebrows at him, clearly showing her disapproval of his plan.

"And you'd better take damn good care of that Declaration!"

"We will," Ben called back to his father. Abigail just shook her head.

Ben spied an old coat hanging on a hook near the door and fished through the pockets. "Aha," he said triumphantly, a set of car keys out. He held the door open and gentlemanly gestured for Abigail to go first. She did, sending Ben a smile that he hoped was more playful than criticizing.

"And now you're stealing your father's car," she said accusingly as Ben unlocked the doors to Patrick's Cadillac with the click of a button.

"Well we can't very well take Riley's van anymore, I think that would be a _little_ obvious." He paused just before getting into the driver's seat. "Where is he anyway?"

"Are you supposed to pick him up?"

"He was just getting his laptop and whatever else he needed. He's _supposed_ to meet us back at the house. But that was almost fifteen minutes ago."

"You do realize the FBI are on their way. _Right now_."

"Yes, thank you, I do realize we are in a hurry." Ben sighed, slightly annoyed now, though he wasn't sure who he was more annoyed at—Riley for not coming back to the house or Abigail for being as condescending as she was. "Get in. We're going to pick him up."

Ben sped down the few blocks to the lot where they had left the van, constantly checking his rearview mirror for flashing lights or any FBI looking vehicles. He really, _really_ didn't want to get caught now. Not with the stolen Declaration of Independence and a possible hostage. He wondered what Dr. Chase was even thinking of all this. She'd been happily surprised to see that Ben was right about the back of the document, and now it seemed she wanted to be as involved in the treasure hunt as he and Riley were. The more he thought about it, the more he figured that it wasn't exactly a bad thing to have her hanging around.

He circled the lot, drove around the park, checked every shadowed alleyway in the vicinity but saw no sign of Riley's van.

"Damn it, Riley," Ben muttered.

"Do you think he got cold feet?"

Ben shook his head. Abigail didn't know him well enough to think he would just chicken out and disappear like that. Riley was fiercely loyal to Ben and would always be there for him, unless something happened…

Ben didn't think twice. He pulled his phone out and used his speed dial to call Riley's cell. It rang once, twice…with a click it was answered.

"Riley, where are you? Where's the van?" he said quickly before Riley could even get a word out.

"Slow down, Ben," said a very un Riley like voice. Ben paled and Abigail sent him a concerned look. "Riley's right here. We're taking him and his van for a little ride."

"Ian," Ben growled. Abigail gasped, recognizing the name as being the man that had nearly kidnapped her for the Declaration. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Insurance, Ben. You've managed to hold on to the document and seen the back of it, which puts you a few steps ahead in our little game. I just thought I would even out the score a little."

Ben groaned. He couldn't give up the Declaration, or the new clues, but he couldn't leave Riley to get hurt either. And he knew instinctively that Ian and his goons wouldn't hesitate to hurt the young man. They had made their strong dislike for Riley and his antics very clear through the whole treasure hunt.

"So how do you want to do this, Ben? Are you going to help me get the treasure, or should I just shoot your little friend now and get it over with?"

"NO!" Ben shouted. "No, don't…just don't hurt him. Can I talk to him?"

Ian chuckled sadistically on the other line. "No, no I'm afraid that's impossible. I've shut him up, and frankly I like him a lot better when he's not running his mouth. I don't know why we never considered it before—we could have sewn his lips shut and found the treasure a long time ago."

"Ian, don't…"

"I'll tell you what Ben—you tell me what the next clue is and where you're headed, and we'll meet you there."

"No, Ian. No deal. I want to meet you _right_ now. I want to know Riley's okay."

"Sorry Ben, but we're already on the open road. I wouldn't want to be coming back anywhere near your dad's place. Not with the feds on their way. How was it, by the way?"

"What?"

"Seeing your dad. I'm sure he was thrilled to find out what you were doing."

"Yeah…thrilled. Where should we meet you?"

"'We'? Did you bring him with you, or are you still dragging Dr. Chase around?"

"Ben," Abigail whispered, looking frantically out the windows at their ominous surroundings. "We have to go…"

She was right. They'd been sitting there talking for a long few minutes by now. Ben didn't have that kind of time to spare, and he was definitely too frustrated to try to drive while talking to his mutinous financier.

"Ian, we don't have time for this. Where should we meet you?"

"That depends, Ben. Where are you going to solve your little cipher?"

So Riley had been able to tell him that much, but not where they were going. Ben shuddered, thinking of the horrible things they must have done to Riley to even get that much information from him.

"Philadelphia. We need to get to the Franklin Institute to see the Silence Dogood letters."

"Alright, Ben. You solve your little number puzzle, and I'll contact you in Philadelphia. Deal?"

"Like I have a choice?" Ben grumbled.

Ian laughed. "I guess not. See you later."

There was a click as the call was ended.

"What are we doing?" Abigail asked. "Where are we going?"

Ben started the car again and zoomed forward, heading for the highway. He passed her the book he'd taken from his father's house.

"'Common Sense'?"

"My dad usually keeps a few hundred dollars tucked in the pages. We're going to Phily and we need to change out of these clothes. Then we're going to get Riley back."

* * *

Ian flipped the phone shut and slipped it into his pocket. "See, that wasn't too bad. We're one step closer to the treasure." He smiled down at Riley, who glared up at him in response from where he was lying awkwardly on the floor of his own van.

Ian kept his little staring competition going for a minute before turning to the driver. "How much further?"

"Ten minutes, tops," the man called back.

Wow, Riley thought. They were almost there already? Was that even possible?

As if to answer Riley's unspoken question, Ian explained "We need to switch vehicles. I'm afraid we're a little conspicuous like this. But don't you worry…I've planned ahead."

He leant down and patted Riley's cheek with a smile. Riley flinched away and Ian laughed cruelly.

"This is going to be easier than I thought," he said, straightening up to look at Shaw. "By this time tomorrow we'll be rich men."

Shaw grinned back at his boss. Riley rolled his eyes and turned away from them. He had so many snappy come backs right now that he couldn't even say. It was hard enough to even breathe with the tape over his mouth. He had to consciously suck in every breath through his noise and try to ignore the stinging pain his cheek.

But that pain was easily drowned out by the growing ache in his arms and back. Rolling to his side had helped a little, but his shoulders were protesting every little move he made. He couldn't even feel his hands any more.

Stupid duct tape. Stupid Ian and Shaw and other guys. Stupid Riley, for getting into this stupid mess.

Suddenly the van hit a particularly large bump and lurched forward. Riley found himself sliding towards the front of the vehicle, unable to stop himself with his arms secured behind him. The top of his head hit hard on the jumbled mess of mother boards and other technological stuff as the van came to a screeching stop.

Ian threw the back door open as Shaw grabbed Riley by the collar of his hoodie. He was yanked out of the car rather roughly and fell to his knees on the pavement as his head swam. He looked around and blinked stars out of his eyes, only to find that they were in some kind of an underground garage that was completely empty except for a single compact car parked across from the two vans.

Shaw pulled Riley up by his hood and forced him towards the car. Three of Ian's goons had already squeezed into the back seat, leaving Shaw and Ian to take up the front seats. So where was Riley going to sit?

He watched with dread as Ian leaned down into the driver's seat. A second later the trunk popped open with a slight whooshing sound. Riley gulped.

"In you go," Shaw said.

He tightened his grip on Riley's hood and forced him forward. Riley struggled, he really did. He dug his Chuck Taylors into the pavement and twisted his body this way and that to try to get away. He did not want to get in the trunk. He could not stress how badly he did not want to be in that cramped, dark space.

Shaw, growing impatient with Riley's lame struggling, kicked out the back of the young man's legs. Riley let out a muffled groan and would have collapsed to his knees again if not for Shaw's iron grip on his sweatshirt. With his other hand, Shaw grasped the back of Riley's belt and hoisted him up and off the ground.

Riley was still struggled like mad, trying to ignore the pounding in his head and the nausea that was rising in his stomach. But it was no use as Shaw plopped Riley callously into the trunk and ignored the younger man's muffled protests as he slammed the door shut, leaving Riley trapped in the darkness.


	2. Going Back To Philly

**Chapter II: Going Back To Philly**

The car hit a particularly large bump and Riley was jostled around in the trunk, his head colliding with the roof of the small space once again. The first time it had successfully knocked him out and this second bump must have been what woke him up.

Riley swallowed hard in an attempt to fight the nausea that had been rising in his stomach. He'd been unconscious for a long time now—he could tell by how ridiculously sore and stiff his body was. It was the kind of feeling he got after sleeping in a weird position for too long. And this was definitely a weird position, lying on his side with his wrists stuck behind him.

He groaned miserably as the car lurched forward. Riley didn't know how much more of this he could take. He was being tossed around like a…like a thing that gets tossed around a lot in a trunk. He knew there was something very wrong when his fuzzy mind couldn't even think of a witty analogy to his current situation.

But that's all he could do. Think, sleep, hopefully keep breathing… There was no way he could get out of there, not while he was tied up and locked in the tight, dark space. So he was pretty much screwed until Ben could save him. He really hoped that would be sooner rather than later.

* * *

"So…we show up at your father's door in the middle of the night and the first thing he assumes is I'm pregnant?"

Abigail was trying to disband the uncomfortable silence that had come between the couple. They'd picked out some decent looking clothes in a local Urban Outfitters and were now changing. Ben had been painfully quiet most of the drive to Philadelphia, only briefly explaining his treasure hunt up to their current position. She noticed that his story pointedly avoided any details about Riley, and it was evident the treasure protector was worried about his young…friend? Partner? Brother?

It had dawned on her sometime in the early morning hours that she knew nothing about Ben Gate's little sidekick. Riley, not Bill, she reminded herself as she recalled with some amusement the awkward way he had initially introduced himself. She had concluded—after the encounter with Ben's father—that the young man was not in fact Ben's brother as she initially thought. The two looked alike enough after all. Okay maybe not really, other than the dark hair and the bright, blue eyes.

Her other conclusion was that the two were not partners, not in _that_ sense. At least not by the way Ben had been gentlemanly flirting with her since he strolled into her office at the Archives. Even though some of it was an act to hide his true identity, there's no way he was that good of an actor.

So, rather than using the car ride to sleep while Ben drove, his hard glare directed only to the road before him, she decided she should know a little more about the young man they were hoping to save from the clutches of a mutinous madman.

"Ben," she started slowly. "I feel like I know a lot about you and your family, but how did Riley get caught up in all this? It is Riley, right, not Bill?"

At this Ben actually smirked slightly, recalling the same awkward introduction she was thinking of. "Yeah, it's Riley. I have no idea where he came up with Bill."

Abigail let out a tense breath and mirrored his smile. She honestly hadn't expected to get this kind of a reaction from him—maybe a gruff, "none of your business" or something like that.

"I roped Riley in the same way I did with anyone. I told him my treasure story. He was interested, so I invited him along."

"Really? And he just up and left…whatever to help you?"

"Actually I came to him for his computer skills. He'd been working a 9 to 5 job in a cubicle writing programs for some software company. He was more than happy to hear me out."

Abigail blinked. "Wow. I should think most _normal_ people wouldn't be so willing to ask random strangers to join them on their treasure hunts and hope they're interested."

Ben shook his head. "No, no he wasn't a stranger. I've known Riley for a while…about five years now."

Abigail smiled. He was really opening up to her now. "This sounds like an exciting story in and of itself."

He shrugged, never taking his eyes off the road. "Not really. I was going to MIT after I discovered that treasure hunting was really done through technology nowadays. Riley was a freshman there when I met him. I'm not exactly sure how it happened.

"He wasn't the kind of kid that hung with a big social group or anything. Actually he was kind of…solitary and, believe it or not, quiet in class when I saw him. Then one day I must have said something in passing after a lecture, I don't even remember what, and he just started talking. I mean, nonstop. It was like the kid had bottled up all of these little comments and silly stories but had never had an opportunity to spit them out. I think he was just having a hard time adjusting to college life. His roommate was a jerk, and I had to help him out a few times when he got into hot water over something.

"I don't know—we just became friends naturally. And after I told him about the treasure…I mean he was in, no problem. I swear the kid will follow me around blindly wherever I go. He'd probably jump off a cliff, if I asked him nicely."

Abigail saw Ben's smile fade and a sad look crossed his face. It was obvious he missed his friend and was extremely worried about whatever was happening to him while he was in Ian's clutches. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and he made eye contact with her for a split second before turning back to the road before him.

"He'll be okay, Ben."

"I hope you're right." He sighed deeply. "And thank you, by the way, for sticking around. Even after everything that's happened."

She smiled slightly, pleasantly surprised again by his words. "Sure."

There was nothing left to say after that, and the pair sat in a semi comfortable silence the rest of the way to Philly. The bright sun and the bustling city streets seemed to have sobered Ben a little from his funk, and Abigail was extremely grateful he responded to her again when she attempted playful conversation in the fitting rooms of Urban Outfitters.

He peeked around the door to look her in the eye. She was glad to see the flirtatious smile she had seen on him when they met had returned, full force.

"Have you ever told someone, not a family member, I love you?"

* * *

He was jerked awake as sudden light filled the darkness. He kept his eyes closed, squeezed tight against the harsh brightness. Then, out of nowhere, someone was patting at his cheek. He instinctively flinched away from the surprising touch, though he wasn't even sure if it was in fact hurting him. It could have been Ben, come to save him at last…

"Wake up, Riley. We're not going to carry you."

Not Ben…that was Ian's voice. His harsh, evil sounding voice somehow underlined with…amusement? Apparently he found the whole situation to be quite funny. Riley still refused to open his eyes, until the light pat became a rough slap to his already stinging cheek. He moaned and forced his eyelids open, only to stare up at two people he disliked very much at the moment. Ian Howe and a man known only as Shaw were glaring down at him, silhouetted by sunlight. They looked very ominous like that, even more so with the manic grins on their faces. Riley wished he'd kept his eyes shut.

He was forced out of the trunk by two hands grasping the front of his hoodie. If he kept getting pulled around like this, he was going to find himself investing in a new sweatshirt when he got out of this situation. _If_ he got out of this situation.

Riley was stood up on his unstable legs with Shaw's constant grasp on him the only thing keeping him standing. His entire body felt stiff and sore, but at least he could now breathe some fresh air into his lungs. Even if it was only through his nose, it was better than nothing.

Once he'd gained his bearings and blinked the fuzziness out of his eyes, Riley took a good look around. They were in another parking garage, or some sort of closed off empty space that resembled a parking garage with very high windows. Maybe it was a warehouse? Or something like that. All Riley knew was that it was empty, save for two black SUVs with Pennsylvania plates and windows that were tinted as black as the paint job.

"…come on, move it!"

Apparently they'd been yelling at him but he'd tuned it out, more concerned about what was going to happen to him than whatever the hell they were talking about. Now they wanted him to move. Sure. He was pushed forward from behind and would have fallen on his face if Shaw hadn't yanked him back up by his hood.

He was practically dragged towards one of the cars, where the rest of Ian's lackeys were staring at him with stupid grins on their faces. He sent them the best "what are you assholes staring at?" look he could muster with his eyes, but they apparently, like Ian and Shaw, found this whole situation to be extremely amusing. Riley wished he got what was so funny, but as far as he was concerned, he was the punch line in their sadistic little joke.

The trunk to one of the SUVs was opened as they approached. Thankfully this trunk was significantly larger than the one Riley had just spent his morning in. It wasn't completely closed off either—it was designed so that a backseat passenger could easily reach back into the trunk space.

Riley didn't even have the energy to struggle as he was forced inside. At least here he could sit up. No one even talked to him. Ian was barking orders about going to the Franklin Institute. Then he said something about time, and Riley found out it was ten to noon. Wow, he'd been in the other trunk longer than he'd thought. He was probably lucky he hadn't suffocated.

They slammed the door to the back of the SUV shut and moved their separate ways. Riley blinked slowly. The fact that he was now able to breathe real oxygen instead of stuffy trunk air was definitely helping to clear his head and he began to wonder what exactly was going on. They were in Philadelphia, right? Ben must have been in the city too, and they were going to make a deal and Riley would be saved.

Suddenly Riley's heart sank as a new thought popped into his head. What if Ben chose the treasure over Riley? He had, after all, been looking for the hidden Templar treasure long before he'd even met Riley. Then he'd definitely be screwed. Ian and his guys hated Riley, and he could only imagine all the horrible things they were planning to do with him if Ben didn't give in to their demands.

Riley shuddered and felt the car start moving. It took off rather quickly, and Riley was slammed sideways against the door of the trunk. He could hear Ian and at least one of his guys talking about something but Riley tuned them out. He was busy staring blankly out the window above him at the bright sky as Philladelphia buildings rushed past.

If there was even a chance that Ben wasn't going to help him, Riley would have to get out of this situation by himself. _How_, he had no idea. His arms were thoroughly numb and his head was pounding. He felt helpless and really, really stupid for even getting into this mess. All he could do now was squirm in the tight space he was sitting, trying in vain to get more comfortable while his mind wandered in circles around some scenarios he hoped for and others he hoped were nothing more than the scary wanderings of his tired mind.

* * *

"…Pass and Stow. Ben, those are the last words! We need to get to Independence Hall, where the Liberty Bell was."

Ben nodded. He too understood the clue and was very relieved it hadn't been anything more complicated than that. They were already in Philadelphia, and now only a few blocks from their destination.

Abigail hesitated for a moment, watching Ben think, before asking the question that was on both of their minds. "What should we do?"

Ben looked grim. "We go to Independence Hall and find the next clue."

"But…what about Ian?"

"He hasn't tried to call us yet…and we are still in Philly after all. I don't think it would hurt if we kept looking for the next clue."

"And Riley?"

"Ian won't do anything to him—yet. He needs information _we_ have, and he knows Riley's the only reason we would give it to him." Then, almost as an afterthought, "he's probably keeping tabs on us already anyway. I wouldn't put it past him."

Abigail raised her eyebrows. She was clearly skeptical, but the almost fierce determination in Ben's eyes kept her from voicing her opinion. "Alright, then. To Independence Hall."

* * *

"Where do ya suppose they're off to now?"

"Couldn't say," Ian mumbled, his fierce gaze never leaving the couple as they left the Franklin Institute, nearly a block away from where he sat in his parked SUV.

"Are we goin' after 'em?"

"Yes. But keep your distance. Call Powell, tell him they're coming his way. I don't know what Ben thinks he's doing, but I'm going to find out."

_Ben?!_

At the sound of his friend's name Riley jerked to attention. He hadn't really been listening to anything that they were saying. He was more focused on his own woes. But as it turns out, they'd been parked outside of the Franklin Institute for quite a while, and now Ian had spotted Ben. Thank God—he was saved at last.

Riley craned his neck as much as he could and poked his head up over the back of the backseat, hoping to catch a glimpse of his friend out the front windshield. He'd barely straightened up, though, when a large hand pushed him back down, pressing roughly against the bump he'd already sustained on the top of his head.

"You keep your head down, pipsqueak."

Riley winced at the sting on his head as well as the harshness of Shaw's gruff voice. He shrank back down in the trunk space, his verbal frustrations muffled inaudibly.

"What was that?"

_Don't call me a pipsqueak, you big jackass._

"That's what I thought."

Riley flinched as Shaw ruffled his hair and chuckled.

Then the vehicle lurched forward and Riley found himself tipping over against the door again. He was tired of being tossed around like this. He was angry, and frustrated, and more than a little car sick. But Ben was around here somewhere. Ben would have to save him, and the bad guys would get what was coming to them, and he would live happily ever after, treasure or no treasure, he didn't even care anymore.

* * *

"_Phew_…"

"What?"

"Can you believe the last time this was here…it was being signed?"

Abigail smirked playfully at him. "Ben…"

"Right, okay…" He put the glasses on his nose and fiddled with the different colored lenses for a moment. "Wow…this is really something."

He passed the glasses to Abigail so she could see what he saw. "Heere at the Wall…"

"Oh no," Ben suddenly mumbled as something caught his eye out the window. He dashed to it, looking out at a man he really didn't want to see right now. "Ian was following us. Why hasn't he called?"

"He's waiting for you to do all the dirty work," Abigail answered grimly. "I'm sure he had no intention of letting Riley go until he was sure we could get the treasure for him."

Ben nodded in dismal agreement. Though he'd been pushing the thought to the back of his mind, he knew she was absolutely right. If they didn't find the treasure soon… Well, he didn't think Riley would want Ben to be wasting his time worrying.

"We're going to hang on to this stuff as long as possible. If Ian doesn't have the clues, then he still needs us, which means he still needs Riley. But we've got to split up—as much as we don't want him to have the Declaration or the glasses we definitely don't want him to get a hold of both of them. You take the Declaration, I've got the glasses, and I'll meet you back at the car. Okay?"

"Okay," Abigail said breathlessly.

"Take care of her."

"I will."

* * *

Abigail stared in horror from where she lay, sprawled across the sidewalk while the notorious Ian Howe scooped up the canister she had dropped in her haste to escape his goons. He twisted it open, examining the document with a triumphant grin on his face. His cold gaze turned to her and his smile more than anything else frightened her to her feet. She heard steady falling footsteps behind and realized she was still being chased. After taking one last regretful look at the Declaration of Independence, she leapt to her feet and ran in the other direction. As long as Ben still had the glasses, Ian was still nowhere near finding the treasure. She sprinted fast as her petite legs could take her and was glad to hear that the men chasing her had backed off. But she didn't stop running. She had to get to Ben…had to find him before someone else did…


	3. Close But No Cigar

**Chapter III: Close But No Cigar**

"…if they want the Declaration back, and not just a box of confetti, you'll come alone."

Ian slammed the pay phone back down on its receiver, letting out a frustrated curse as he did so. Ben had gotten himself caught by the FBI. Normally Ian would see this as a good thing, meaning that he would no longer have to race the other man to the treasure. But apparently he was missing something. Something important that made having the Declaration of Independence pointless. He didn't know how Dr. Chase got his number, but she was quick to call him and convince him to help get Ben out of custody. She was probably just trying to make up for losing the Declaration in the first place.

"What are we doing now?" Shaw asked as Ian came back to the SUV.

"We're going to help Ben escape from the FBI."

"What?!"

"Apparently we still need his help. So tomorrow morning we're going to be at the _Intrepid_, ready with the diving gear."

The three henchmen looked thoughtful for a moment before Powell spoke up. "Wait…we're going to New York? Why?"

"Because according to Dr. Chase the treasure is in the city somewhere on Broadway."

Powell snorted at this in disbelief.

"We have no choice. We need those glasses Ben found."

"What about him?" Shaw said, jerking his thumb behind him at one of the parked SUV's trunks.

At this Ian's frown changed into a maniacal grin. He would have considered killing Riley, now that he had the Declaration. But it turned out that once they helped Ben, he may still need some coercing to give Ian the treasure. So he would keep the annoying kid alive to use further as collateral. He would keep Riley alive, but that didn't mean they still couldn't torment him.

He glanced at his watch. "It's almost five now. We'll meet at my flat and relax for the night. Maybe celebrate a little with our friend Mr. Poole."

* * *

"Why would Ian want to meet at the _Intrepid_? Why not here in Philadelphia?"

Ben shook his head, though he did have some idea of what Ian's intentions were. "I have no idea."

Sadusky stared at him for a long time, as though trying to read right through Ben's eyes and into his brain. "Fine," the FBI agent said finally. "We'll get something set up to monitor you when the exchange is made. I don't want you to do _anything _without me telling you to. If this works out, Ian Howe will be going to jail for a long time...who knows, maybe the two of you will even be cell mates."

Ben was silent while Sadusky scrutinized him with a grin. He knew there was nothing he could say to change his fate, but suddenly it wasn't his own fate he was worried about. Sadusky had just stood up and was starting to bark orders for the helicopter to take them to New York when Ben spoke up again.

"Wait, Agent Sadusky," he said.

The older man turned and raised an eyebrow. "Yes, Ben? Don't tell me you're afraid of heights, because you are coming with us in the helicopter—"

Ben shook his head. "No it's not that. There's one very important detail I left out of my story before."

Sadusky took his seat again. "Alright Mr. Gates, you've got my attention."

"Ian doesn't just have the Declaration," Ben said sincerely. He swallowed hard before continuing, as thought it was very difficult for him to say what needed to be said. "There was…someone else with me before this whole debacle."

Sadusky looked unimpressed. "I already suspected you'd had an accomplice, besides Dr. Chase that is."

"I told you she had nothing to do with this…but that's not the point. My friend, Riley Poole, was kidnapped last night." Then as a side note he added, "and he's not an accomplice either. He's completely innocent, just like Abigail."

Sadusky folded his hands on the table and leaned closer to look Ben in the eye. "So now you're saying that Ian Howe, your once business partner, _kidnapped_ your friend to get you to steal the Declaration?"

That sounded good to Ben and he would have thought of running with the story to get out of jail time, but that wasn't what he was trying to get across. "No...well, not exactly. Listen—the point is, Ian has Riley and he's holding him until I find the treasure. If you and your agents are there when I meet Ian tomorrow morning, I'm afraid of what will happen to my friend."

Sadusky stared Ben down for a moment and took in the look of genuine worry and fear that was on the treasure hunter's face. "What was your friend's name again?"

"It…it's Riley," Ben said, hoping that this meant Sadusky was taking him seriously. "Riley Poole. Like swimming pool with an e."

"You're not just jerking my chain, are you Ben? Because if you are you're only digging yourself deeper into a hole…"

Ben shook his head. "No, no…I'm telling the truth, I _swear_. I'm really worried about him. Ian isn't really too fond of the kid, and if he finds out you're tailing me at the _Intrepid_…" Ben let out a shaky breath. "I just want Riley to be okay. I'll get the Declaration and go to jail. Just…just make him be okay."

Sadusky's expression softened when he saw how terrified Ben obviously was. "Alright, Mr. Gates. We're still keeping tabs on you, but I'll make sure my agents are on the lookout for Ian Howe and where he might be keeping your friend. We'll keep a safe distance until we know Riley is safe."

Ben nearly melted with relief. "Thank you, Sadusky. I really appreciate this."

"Don't read too deeply into it, Mr. Gates," the FBI agent said as he stood up again. "We've got a long night ahead of us."

* * *

After sitting in hours of traffic, they finally made it into uptown New York City. Riley had slept for most of the drive, panic only making him stay conscious for so long. He had no idea where they were going, or what was going on, or what was going to happen to him…

He jerked awake as the SUV hit a large bump. Riley was used to being jostled around by now, and he actually recognized this particular feeling from moving in and out of parking garages. Riley groaned. That meant they were switching cars again. He only hoped it was a car with an open trunk like this one and not the tight closed space of the first car. He was pretty sure he would suffocate to death this time if it was.

"We're here," a gruff voice said from above him.

He raised his head slowly, his neck stiff from sitting for so long. Shaw was leaning over the backseat grinning madly down at his hostage. Riley blinked. That look alone scared him. The large hands that were reaching down towards him terrified him.

"Hold still," Shaw grumbled as Riley tried in vain to squirm away from his grasp. Shaw slid his hands under Riley's arms and hoisted the smaller man up and over the back of the car seat. He then tore the tape from Riley's mouth, which let out a harsh yell as soon as Riley's lips were free.

"Shut up," Shaw growled as he smothered Riley's mouth with his hand. Once Riley was quiet, Shaw removed his hand, allowing the younger man to finally take a deep, refreshing breath. Ah, oxygen had never tasted so good. He wheezed and gasped and somehow managed to not scream when Shaw tore the tape of his wrists. He winced and actually let out a little whimper as circulation came painfully back into his arms. Then he was spun around by Shaw so he was sitting normally in the seat, facing Ian who was looking back at him from the front of the SUV. Riley gulped nervously.

"Hello, Riley. I'm sorry we haven't seen much of each other since last night. But I'm sure you're no stranger to being ignored for long periods of time."

Riley glared at Ian, ignoring his comment. "Where's…Ben?" he rasped.

"My, Riley," Ian said. "That sounds awful." He twisted around in his seat for a moment and reemerged with a bottle of water. "Here, you must be parched." He set the bottle in Riley's lap.

He cleared his throat. "Uh, thanks." His fingers were sore and tingling like mad as he lifted the bottle up. He struggled with the top for a minute, but was unable to get his numb fingers to grip it.

"Give it here," Shaw growled, impatient with Riley's struggling. He opened the bottle and held it one hand while his other hand suddenly yanked Riley's head back by his hair. He shoved the bottle in Riley's face and forced the liquid into his mouth. Riley coughed and sputtered but was glad to have even a little bit of water in his parched and aching throat. As soon as the attack had begun it was over, leaving Riley to look at Ian again while water dripped off his face and onto his shirt. He took deep, wheezing breaths, willing himself to try to breathe normally.

"Ben has apparently been arrested," Ian said, calmly continuing their conversation as though there had been no interruption.

Riley felt his eyes bulge as he gasped, "What?!"

"And I have the Declaration," Ian said with a smirk as he pulled the canister out from under his seat to show the young man.

Riley felt himself grow even paler than he already was as he realized what this meant. "You…you're going to…k-kill me?"

Riley was surprised to see Ian throw his head back and chuckle whole heartedly at the question. This only made Riley more nervous and he squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. He didn't think he'd ever seen Ian laugh like this before, and, frankly, it scared him.

"Ah, Riley," Ian said once his laughing fit was over. "You always were the funny one."

Riley's frown deepened. Ian had never thought his jokes were funny. And the situation he was in now certainly wasn't a comical one.

Ian became serious again very quickly. "I had every intention of killing you, but I still need Ben's help. So as long as I need Ben's help, you're not expendable—just an annoying piece of baggage I have to carry around."

Riley glared at him. He was glad they weren't going to kill him yet, but he didn't like being considered a piece of baggage. In fact this wasn't the first time Ian had called him that. Even on their way to the Arctic to find the Charlotte, Ian had called Riley this, and the comment made all of his comrades laugh. Ben didn't laugh, but he hadn't really stuck up for Riley, either.

"I'm going to help Ben get out of police custody in the morning and we're all going to find the treasure. You're coming up to my place for the night." Then, after seeing the surprised look on Riley's face he added, "I can't very well have you sitting in my car all night, now can I?"

"I guess not," Riley muttered.

"Good," Ian said, nodding to Shaw. "Let's go."

* * *

With a ding they were on the seventeenth floor and Riley found himself once again being shoved along down a nicely lit hallway. He counted only one other door on the hall before they stopped at Ian's. These were pretty good size apartments if there were only a couple per floor. But that just meant fewer people were around to hear Riley's yells for help.

He'd barely gotten a look around Ian's apartment before he was yanked to the side and forced a little ways down the hall. There was another door down here, and Riley had a split second where he feared they were going to tie him up again and lock him in a closet or something. It was probably the equivalent to leaving him in a car trunk.

"Get in there," Shaw grumbled, forcing him forward into what Riley found was a moderately sized and very well kempt bathroom. "Do what you need to do and wait for me to come back." He emphasized his statement by shaking Riley roughly by the collar of his T-shirt. "Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah I got it," he mumbled, shrugging himself out of Shaw's grip. "Hands off the material, man."

Shaw glared menacingly at him before closing the door. Riley stood there for a few minutes, listening intently through the door as Shaw walked away. He waited in silence, making sure Shaw was really gone and wasn't going to burst in and grab him or something. After a moment he pushed himself away from the door, satisfied no one was going to disturb him.

The first thing Riley did was relieve himself. He hadn't realized until just then that he hadn't been able to use a restroom since he was at Ben's dad's house. And oh man had he been sitting in the car for a long time, his bladder filling by the hour…

He washed his hands, noting with amusement that the faucet was made of a very shiny gold looking material. He was quick to cup his hands and capture the stream of refreshingly cool water. He splashed his face and lapped up some of it to soothe his still aching throat and dry mouth. After he felt he'd drunk enough water to make up for the past day's dry spell, he raised his head and finally got a glance of himself in the mirror.

It was a good thing he was still leaning pretty heavily on the sink, or else he might have fallen down in shock. The person looking back at him did not look like Riley Poole. He was very pale, even paler than normal, his reflection looking no more than a ghostly vision of his usual pallor. The only parts of his face that weren't pale was the gash on his cheek surrounded by a purpling bruise, the red mark striping his face where the duct tape had been, and his eyes.

Riley blinked. _Are those _my _eyes?_ His light blue orbs were accented by dark smudges, markings that usually indicated a sleepless night spent in front of a computer screen. But these were lined with red, making it look like he had been crying. Had he been crying? Riley didn't think so, but he couldn't really remember much, either. The whole day was kind of fuzzy in his mind.

He splashed some more water on his face and wiped at his eyes, hoping that they would go back to looking like normal. He smoothed down his wild dark hair as best as he could, but no matter how many times he ran his hand through it, he still looked like a semi crazed person. Oh well. At least the dried blood was out of his hair line and he'd determined the bump on his head wasn't nearly as painful as it had been earlier.

And now he was supposed to, what, wait for Shaw to come back and get him? Yeah right.

Riley scanned the room. No window, so there was no way out other than the door. There wasn't even a curtain over the shower, and no rod that he could maybe use as a weapon. He briefly considered hiding behind the door with the toilet bowl lid in his hands before he remembered that that required touching the toilet bowl lid. Gross. He opened the cabinet under the sink and the one behind the mirror he was looking at, only to find that both were empty. Ian wasn't kidding when he said he hadn't been here in a while.

What now? Riley stood at the door, fidgeting and bouncing from foot to foot. He didn't know what to do. What could he do? He had to get out of there, he knew that much. He was certainly in for a rough night if he stuck around at Ian's place. But, he reasoned, they were nice enough to let him use the bathroom and get a drink after nearly dehydrating in the trunk of their car.

Riley shook his head. They were probably letting him use the lavatory so that he didn't lose control of his bodily functions while they were hurting him. Riley shuddered. Yeah, that was probably it. He imagined Ian wouldn't want to clean up after him anyway.

This got Riley to thinking what exactly they _were_ going to do to him. Beat him up? It certainly wouldn't be the first time. But then again the guys that had kicked his ass in the past were kids that just happened to be bigger than he was in school. Shaw alone could probably take on a dozen of Riley's past bullies at once.

Ian would surely be more creative than just knocking Riley around. Riley imagined he had a collection of torture devices just sitting around in another room of the apartment. Knives, needles, an electric chair, a stretching rack… Riley shuddered. As much as he would like to be taller, he really hoped Ian didn't have one of those. Or any of those for that matter. He didn't think he could take it.

Riley wasn't known for having the greatest tolerance for pain. He knew this better than anyone. He could spit out an "uncle" faster than his attackers could blink when he was a kid. There was no way he could withstand a long torture session. Hell he felt sick just looking at other people's blood. If Ian used knives…well Riley would definitely lose control of at least his gag reflex.

No matter what they were going to do, or what Riley feared they were going to do, it all led back to one thing—he needed to get the hell out of there.

He pressed his face against the door and listened to the hall outside again. Nothing. All he could hear was silence. Huh, that's weird. Maybe they were just going to leave him there. He could do some damage to Ian's extravagant apartment…that would be fun.

No, that was too easy. They wouldn't just leave him here. Shaw was just being really quiet outside the door, waiting to scare Riley when he came out.

Riley sank to the floor as quietly as he could so he could press his face against the cold ground. He could just see light coming from the hall illuminating the hardwood floors. There was a reflection off the floor, but it was hard for Riley to tell what he was looking at. Didn't look like people, though. And there were no feet outside of the door that he could see.

He stood up again, perplexed at the situation he now found himself in. What was this, some kind of trick? No one was even paying attention to him. If they'd driven him up and down the east coast securely tied up in the trunk of their car, why would they ignore him now?

The front door to the apartment was only down the hall. Maybe ten feet, at the most. Freedom was ten feet away, but still…

Riley grimaced, clenching his head in his fisted hands. He was so confused, and his still pounding headache wasn't helping anything. He was scared, nervous, uncertain…nothing that he wasn't used to feeling, though that fact wasn't really helping him either.

"Aw, screw it," he finally mumbled, his voice still hoarse and barely audible.

He slowly turned the handle and pulled the door back towards him an inch. Coast was clear. Time to go find Ben and save him from the FBI.

"Leaving already, Riley?"

He froze at the sound of Ian's voice. His captors were right behind him, watching with amusement as he tried to sneak out of the apartment.

"Yeah…I just kinda…you know…" He had to stop when his sore throat caused his voice to falter. He made eye contact with Ian and was surprised to see that the maniacal smile was gone. Instead he looked genuinely…disappointed that Riley was trying to leave.

"You can't go now," Ian said. "We just ordered a pizza."

Riley actually let out a nervous, somewhat high pitched laugh. "Really?"

Ian smiled lightly, but not in the cruel way that Riley had become accustomed to since his capture. "You do like pizza, don't you, Riley? I think I remember that you do."

Okay, now Riley was really confused. This had to be some kind of trick. They'd kidnapped him, tied him up and shoved him a trunk. And now they were offering him food? Not just any food—this was a pizza, which just happened to be Riley's favorite food, no matter what the topping was.

Riley laughed nervously again and took a step back towards the door. "Yeah sure…you're _pretending_ to be nice to me…so you can do something really…_mean_." He felt his hand close around the door handle. "Well I'm not falling for it! I'm not as stupid as you guys think and—"

The doorbell rang.

Riley stopped at the sound, taking a moment to catch his breath. Everyone was staring at him. The doorbell rang again. Riley didn't think—he just moved instinctively to the door and wrenched it open.

"Um, hello?" he rasped, staring wide eyed at a tall young woman in a red cap with three pizza boxes held out in her arms.

She blinked at him in surprise, raising her eyebrows as she looked him up and down with eyes as wide as his. He felt himself blush as her gaze scrutinized his pale and ragged appearance. She cleared her throat after a moment and asked with a prominent New York accent, "somebody here order pizza?"

Riley was still gaping as Ian pushed him aside, pulling out his wallet as he did so. "Yes, miss. How much do I owe you?"

"Forty two dollars," the woman said, finally taking her attention off of Riley.

Shaw took the pizzas while Ian passed the delivery girl three twenty dollar bills. "There you go. Keep the change."

Riley couldn't see it, but Ian must have winked or something, because she suddenly blushed and smiled widely at him. "Thank you, sir!" With that she backed into the hallway and dashed away, the stupid smile never leaving her face.

"I think she fancied you, mate," Shaw said, nodding to Ian.

Ian laughed whole heartedly as he shut the door to the apartment. "Yes, these American girls do love a man with an accent. And money, of course."

Shaw laughed too, shaking his head as he carried the pizzas to another room in the apartment. Riley watched him go, his jaw dropping as he looked in disbelief from Ian to Shaw, and then back to Ian. "You think she _'fancied'_ you?! What the hell is going on?!"

Everyone in the apartment stopped to stare at Riley, as though they were genuinely shocked by his outburst.

"We're…having pizza…and beer…" Ian stammered with a very confused expression on his face.

"But you…you're the _bad_ guys! Aren't you supposed to, like, beat me up or something?"

Ian took a step closer. "Do you _want _us to beat you up?"

Riley shrank away. "Um, no. I just thought…"

"Well then come on, before the pizza gets cold," Ian said jovially, clapping Riley on the back before turning to the dining room.

Riley hesitated for a moment, still very confused by the whole thing. He looked from the dining room to the door then back again, wondering if he should try to make a run for it again. But while he was trying to decide what to do, his stomach grumbled loudly, effectively making the decision for him.

"Ah, Riley," Ian said as he came in. "Sit wherever you like."

Riley did, his eyes never leaving Ian's face, as though he were waiting for the true, demonic Ian to come forth again.

"What kind of topping would you like?"

"Uh, pepperoni, I guess."

Ian put a slice in front of him. Riley stared at it, wondering if it was poisoned. But the other guys were eating it, and none of them had dropped dead yet. Riley took a small, hesitant bite, decided that it was okay, and then scarffed the rest of it down in record time. He wasn't even a big drinker, but when a bottle of beer was placed in front of him, he gulped that down, too.

"Slow down there, big guy," Shaw said with a chuckle.

Riley nearly choked. Hearing someone like Shaw chuckle would make anyone choke. None of this made any sense at all, and when he said so out loud, everyone was laughing.

"You're right, Riley," Ian said, wiping jovial tears out of his eyes. "This doesn't make any sense."

Riley froze, not liking at all where this was suddenly going. "Aw, no. I was just kidding. Everything's fine…we're cool…"

"Think about it, kid," Shaw said. "Is this really what you were expecting us to do to you?"

"Honestly? No, I guess not."

Ian stood up and placed a gentle hand on Riley's shoulder. "Well, I think you've had enough pizza. It's time to go back to reality."

"What?! But I don't wanna…"

"Sorry, Riley," Ian said, sounding genuinely sorry. "It's time for you to wake up."

Riley swallowed hard before saying softly, "do I have to?"

Ian nodded. "I'm afraid so." With that he nonchalantly pulled his fist back and slammed it into Riley's face.

Riley jerked awake as his head fell forward against the door with a dull thud.

"Ow," he muttered. He rubbed at the now sore spot on his forehead. That was by far the weirdest, most vivid daydream he'd ever had. And he had never been so disappointed to find out that this dream wasn't real—and he'd had plenty of dreams involving very attractive young ladies that he'd wished were real.

He shook his head. He was still in the bathroom and there was still no sound coming from the hallway. If he was going to make his escape, now was the time to do it…

* * *

_Posting these two chapters now at the same time at…uh…it's like one something in the morning…because I might not post again anytime soon so I figured I'd hold you over with these chapters while posting was still semi fresh in my mind :)_


	4. Pizza With A Side Of Torture

**Chapter IV: Pizza With A Side of Torture**

The door was in sight. He only had to go a few steps…the handle was in reach…almost there…

"Riley, just what in the hell do you think you're doing?"

He stopped dead in his tracks and turned. Behind him, standing together in the apartment's spacious living room, were Ian and his little gang. Riley only had eyes for the door that stood between him and freedom. He hadn't even thought to look and see if anyone was watching him. He blamed this, among other things, on the head trauma.

"I," he cleared his sore throat and winced. "I was…just gonna…"

He made eye contact with Ian who had a mean but slightly amused grin on his face.

Riley didn't think anymore. He dove at the door and yanked it open. He'd barely gotten a foot outside though when he was pulled back by a tuft of his short hair. He cried out in surprise at the pain in his scalp and had a split second of hope that someone would hear him and come to his aid. That hope was dashed when Shaw's massive hand clamped down over his mouth, stifling his cries as he was pulled back into the apartment. Ian closed the door, the smile never leaving his face.

"You can't leave now, Riley. We haven't been able to have any fun yet."

The slamming of the door shut away any hopes Riley had felt that he would get out of there in one piece. He was stuck in the lavish apartment of a maniacal Brit who hated his guts. But there was no way he was going to be taken so easily.

Riley squirmed and kicked and struggled despite how sore and tired his body was. He probably looked ridiculous, especially since his efforts were getting him nowhere. Shaw did not release his grip, even when Riley tried to bite at his fingers.

"You're only making this harder on yourself you know," Ian said as he took an ominous a step forward.

Riley immediately stopped struggling when Ian's fist slammed into his stomach. He felt himself stop breathing altogether as he sank to his knees. Shaw finally let him go, leaving Riley to fall to his hands and knees as he coughed, trying to ignore the pain in his stomach. Because, oh man, did that _hurt_.

Just as he felt he was able to bring his raspy breathing back to semi normal, Riley was hauled up again by Shaw and dragged to another room by his already tearing shirt. He couldn't even yell or scream anymore—he was caught up in another hoarse coughing fit.

Suddenly he felt himself being forced to sit. He wrenched open his eyes, only just then realizing that they were closed. He was surprised to see that he was in a dining room seated on a rather elaborate old wood chair at the head of the matching wood table. It looked like the kind of furniture that Ben's dad would have in his house. He cried out again as his wrists were pulled down to his sides and lashed to the bars on either side of the back of the armless chair. His ankles were similarly tied, each to a separate leg of the chair. He struggled once but couldn't squirm his way off of the chair.

"Hey, come on you guys," he said looking up at Shaw and Ian. He tried to sound brave but he couldn't help the quiver that rose in his voice. "I was…I was just kidding. You know…" He laughed nervously. No one else thought it was funny. "Like I would really…try to escape. I mean, come on…seriously…"

"I honestly don't know why Ben puts up with you," Ian said, shaking his head as he ignored Riley's panicked rambling. "Do you ever listen to yourself speak? You sound like an idiot."

Riley didn't know what to say to that. Even if he had been able to spit out some sort of smart ass—or as Ian would think, idiotic—comment, he would have been interrupted by the shrill ringing of a doorbell.

Ian and Shaw immediately stiffened in surprise at the sudden, unexpected sound. Riley used their second's hesitation to yell for help as loud as he possibly could. But between the sore throat and now aching stomach, the cry hadn't travelled far, and any other sound Riley would have considered making was again stifled by Shaw's hand.

"Keep him quiet," Ian hissed as he disappeared around the corner.

Though he couldn't see the door from where he was, Riley could just hear what was going on over his own sniffling. He'd half hoped it was the cops, or the building's security, or anybody that would be able to help him. But luck wasn't on Riley's side as Ian spoke cheerfully to someone who was apparently delivering pizza. And to Riley's dismay, real life delivery guys never venture any further than the doorway of a home.

Minutes after he'd disappeared from the dining room, Ian was back with two pizza boxes and his other cronies in tow. He set the boxes down on the table and moved to stand in front of Riley.

"Are you going to behave yourself?"

Riley stared at him for a second, wondering how he should respond with Shaw smothering his mouth. He managed to nod his head a little, which was enough for Ian. Shaw finally released his face and stepped away. Riley moved his stiff jaw around and winced. He could still feel Shaw's massive fingers imprinted on his cheeks.

"Good boy," Ian said as he ruffled Riley's hair. Riley flinched away and Ian chuckled as he took his seat.

The thirty or so minutes that followed were the most awkward of Riley's life. That was really saying something, seeing as how Riley's entire life had been awkward. He sat still and quiet, restrained to his chair at the head of the long table while Ian and his partners in crime sat at the other end of the table, eating their pizza, drinking beer, and just talking like normal guys would. Riley heard some conversation about sports, but he couldn't follow not being a sports fan himself.

Not that he would want to partake in their conversation. In fact as long as he was quiet and didn't make eye contact with anyone in the room it was like he wasn't there at all. He stared at his lap and occasionally twisted his hands around in their bonds just to make sure he still could. He wasn't even really thinking. He was just trying to focus on anything but the party taking place barely three feet in front of him.

Riley was just wondering if he could fall asleep sitting up like he was when he suddenly had a weird, creepy feeling that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He slowly raised his gaze to find that all five of his captors were staring back at him with eerie grins on their faces.

He immediately lowered his head again. He had no idea why they were looking at him like that, but he suddenly wished he'd been listening to their conversation, however awful it might have been. At least then he would know exactly what they were talking about.

"You know, Shaw," Ian was saying as he stared at Riley. "I think you're right. He does look hungry. You _hungry_, Riley?"

Riley swallowed. He had been hungry, but he was long passed the point where he actually _felt_ hungry. And now, with Ian looking at him like that, he knew the answer whether he was in fact hungry or not.

"No, uh, Ian," he said after clearing his throat. "Thanks, but I…I think I'm good."

"Really?" Ian was getting up from his seat and so was Shaw. The other three just looked really maniacally happy about something. "You must be hungry. I know for a fact that you haven't eaten anything all day."

Riley struggled in his seat wishing he could back away from them. He didn't like where this was going. Not at all.

"See, I also know that you like pizza especially. You remember, Shaw, whenever we went to dinner with Ben?"

Shaw nodded. "Yeah. Kid wouldn't eat anything but pizza."

"I remember," Ian said as he leaned down on the table so his face was right in front of Riley's. "In Cairo, I believe. We went to a very exquisite restaurant, my treat. All you did was whine and complain that you didn't like the food. And after all that, what happened? Ben took you to get your pizza."

"I just…I didn't mean to…" Riley stammered as he tried and failed to sink further away.

"That's the way it always went, ever since we picked you up." Ian's voice rose with every word, the fury growing on his normally composed face. "Ben would stick up for you over anything. And who were you? You were nobody. The computer geek—the damn sidekick!"

Riley didn't get a chance to respond or to even try to defend himself. Shaw grabbed a fistful of Riley's hair and snapped his head back so he was forced to look up at Ian. He stared with wide, terrified eyes as Ian stepped forward with a slice of pizza in his hand.

"Well Ben's not here now, but I've got you're pizza, right _here_!"

With that Ian forced his hand down and smothered Riley's face with the greasy piece of pizza. Riley couldn't even turn away, not with Shaw holding his head back. He squirmed as Ian pressed the food hard against his face, twisting it to ensure that Riley was covered in sauce and cheese.

Ian finally pulled away and Riley gasped, feeling like he'd nearly suffocated on pizza. But the second he'd opened his mouth to breathe, Ian forced the folded slice between Riley's teeth. And they laughed. Ian, Shaw, and the other three all laughed.

Riley choked and writhed, his eyes squeezed shut as he tried in vain to clear his airway. He was hurt and humiliated, and slowly suffocating on his favorite food. After what felt like an agonizingly long time, Shaw finally released the grasp he had on his hair. It seemed the larger man was laughing too hard to keep his grip.

Riley's head tipped forward. Thankfully the pizza hadn't been forced too far down his throat. He managed to turn to the side and spit the food out of his mouth and onto Ian's floor. Ian didn't even seem to notice. They all just kept laughing and laughing…

Teas stung his eyes suddenly but Riley forced them back. He wasn't going to cry, not over this. He already felt gross and humiliated. The last thing he needed to do was add tears to the saucy mess on his cheeks. He just felt so stupid.

"What's the matter, Riley?" Ian had managed to contain his hysterical laughter and was back to taunting Riley with his words, which was fine by Riley. Sticks and stones, and such. "Too much? I would have thought with your big mouth, you could eat the whole thing in one bite."

Shaw stooped down and Riley watched as he carefully picked up the discarded pizza slice with two fingers, as though it had some sort of contagious disease from being in Riley's mouth. He tore it in half just as gingerly as he had picked it up.

"Let's see if he can take smaller bites," Shaw growled as he came at Riley with the food in hand.

"No, you guys," Riley rasped with panic in his shaky voice. "I don't…you don't have to…I mean…that was on the floor, and that's really gross and I don't think—"

Whatever else Riley was going to say was silenced by the bottom half of a slice of pizza. The entire piece fit in his mouth now and Shaw held Riley's lips shut and pinched his nose so he had no choice but to chew and swallow if he wanted to breathe again. His mind couldn't get over how gross Ian's floor must have been, especially after being dormant for so long. And now all the dust and dirt was in his mouth…

Riley's lungs were burning and he had no choice but to swallow. He did and Shaw thankfully released his face. He took a deep breath and was engaged in yet another coughing fit while Ian and Shaw laughed and drank their beers. Riley kept his eyes squeezed shut, willing this to not be happening to him.

"…I know," Ian said between laughs in response to something Powell had said. "Now you need something to wash it down with."

Riley kept his eyes closed, really not wanting to be forced to ingest anything else. They were drinking beers, and Riley pointedly disliked beer.

Suddenly, rough hands grasped the front of his T-shirt and shook him hard.

"You know, _Poole_," Shaw growled. "It's rude to not even look at your hosts."

He backhanded Riley across his already bruised cheek. Riley hissed in pain and reluctantly opened his eyes, hoping that they didn't reveal how terrified he was feeling.

"You really do look like you could use a good, hard drink," Ian said.

He dropped a heavy, glass bottle on the table in front of Riley. Though he couldn't make out what the label said, Riley figured it looked like some kind of whiskey. Riley gulped. He'd never had whiskey before, but he was pretty sure he already knew he didn't like it.

"Here," Ian said as he popped open the half full—or as Riley liked to see it, half _empty_—bottle. "Take a good long swill of this…"

Before Riley could even think of saying anything or trying to defend himself in any way, Shaw had grabbed a hold of his chin and squeezed his cheeks to force his mouth open as Ian came forward with the bottle.

Most of the liquid ended up being poured over Riley's head where it dribbled downwards and drenched his shirt. The few drops that did end up in his mouth made him gasp and choke. The alcohol burned in his throat and left a very nasty after taste on his tongue. He sputtered and struggled in his chair but Shaw didn't release his grip until Ian had emptied the bottle's contents on Riley's face.

Riley gasped and was coughing again while Shaw wiped his hands off on the still semi dry part of Riley's jeans. They weren't really laughing anymore, but Riley didn't dare look at their faces. He just kept coughing with his eyes squeezed shut, still wishing he was somewhere else. Somewhere drier.

"How about it Riley?" Ian was saying. "Think it's time for some dessert?"

With a huge amount of effort Riley raised his pounding head to see Ian's smirking face. He blinked liquid out of his eyes and glared at his captors. "No," he said as sternly as he could with his quivering voice. "I _really _don't want to have a…a pie or whatever slammed in my face. I think we've all had about enough of this…_childish_ game and I—"

He was silenced by Ian's fist striking the side of his face hard enough to send the entire chair to the side, where it tilted precariously for a moment on two left legs before tipping over completely with a crash. Riley didn't even try to move from his awkward position. He just stayed stuck to the chair on his side, gasping from the pain and shock while silently thanking his lucky stars that his arms weren't bound any further to side of the chair. Otherwise he could have gotten his wrist crushed between the floor and the chair's back.

"Childish?" Ian was saying, his voice menacing and deep. He pulled his gun seemingly out of nowhere and pressed the barrel roughly into Riley's already bruised cheek. "Would you rather I just pulled the trigger?"

Riley was shaking now, his eyes wide with terror as he looked up at Ian's face. The older man was inches away from Riley, his expression creased with anger. Riley tried to choke out a "n-no" in response to Ian's query but was suddenly drowned out by laughter.

Ian straightened and pulled the gun away while he cackled along with his comrades. Riley just stared, still terrified, but now very, very confused.

"Ah, Riley," Ian said. "I couldn't just _shoot _you. Where's the fun in that?"

Riley forced a nervous grin. "Yeah, seriously…"

"Besides," Ian continued. "We need you alive. For Ben, you know."

Riley relaxed slightly.

"But once I have the treasure…"

Suddenly Ian came back with the gun as he stopped laughing and turned very serious once more. Riley tensed as the gun was again pressed to his face. Ian stared hard at Riley for a moment before pulling away like he did before with a grin and a chuckle. He ruffled Riley's sopping hair and leaned in close, still with that maniacal smirk on his face.

"…I'll be rich, Ben will be in prison, and you'll just be another nobody. And hopefully I will never have to see either of you again."

Ian stood up again and shook the liquid from Riley's hair off of his hand. Riley, meanwhile, stared up at him with wide eyes, relieved that Ian wasn't going to kill him, but still nervous and frightened by the man's drastic actions. He was just trying to scare Riley, and Riley couldn't help but think that he was doing a very good job.

"My, my…would you look at the time?" Ian was saying casually as he glanced at his watch. "It's well past midnight. We're going to need to get some shut eye. Big day tomorrow, you know."

Powell, Phil, and Shippen filed out of the room, each sending one last crazy smile in Riley's direction as they left. Shaw especially looked very disappointed that they were done tormenting their prisoner. His last action before leaving the dining room was to kick out at Riley's right shoulder, forcing the chair onto its back and Riley in an even more ridiculous position with his legs sticking up and bent at the knees because of where they were still bound to the chair's legs.

Riley took deep calming breaths, telling himself it would all be over soon. Shaw left the room, but Riley couldn't relax just yet—Ian had returned. He stood directly over the knocked over chair with Riley still stuck to it, now on his back with no choice but to stare up at his captor.

"I really must thank you," Ian said. "If Ben didn't care for your safety as much as he does, then you would be useless. I've always known, for the past year you've been tagging along, that if things were ever not going my way, I would have you as a backup plan. So, thanks to you and Ben's soft heartedness, I was always going to be the finder of the great Templar treasure."

Riley swallowed nervously as he took in this new information. No matter what Ben did, Ian was always going to have the treasure, just because of Riley's and Ben's friendship. Riley couldn't help but feel sick with guilt.

Ian crouched down and Riley noticed that he had something in his hands—it looked like a dish towel.

"We really do have a big day tomorrow, if we're going to get Ben out of FBI custody. Once we do and I can get the treasure, we'll all go our separate ways and forget this whole thing ever happened. But first, I'm going to need some much needed rest, which means that you're going to have to keep quiet."

With that Ian had balled up the towel and forced it into Riley's slack mouth. There was no way Riley could cough or spit it out, especially not in the position he was in. He moaned and turned his head to the side, but still couldn't force the material out.

"Good boy," Ian said patting Riley's bruised cheek while Riley tried in vain to flinch away.

Satisfied, Ian stood up and finally left the room, leaving an aching and miserable Riley on his back at the head of the dining room table. Ian flicked a light switch as he left, immersing the entire apartment in an eerie darkness.

"Good night, Riley."

* * *

_Talk about an epic "post" fail… I couldn't remember where I'd left off and almost posted the last chapter twice, which would have been really stupid, and then I realized that I totally could have posted this chapter sooner because it was already edited and completed for version 3. Whoops. You'd think after all this time I would have finished something by now, or made what was already finished even awesomer. I didn't and I definitely won't, so stay tuned for the rest of the story as it is. The last chapters will (hopefully) be coming very soon now that school is over :)_


	5. Ben To The Rescue

**Chapter V: Ben To The Rescue**

"I still haven't heard anything about Riley."

"Do you think he's okay?" Abigail's anxious voice asked.

"I don't know. I'll try to call you as soon as I know what's going on. Stay where you are…wherever you're hiding."

"Okay, Ben. Just…please be careful."

He actually smiled. She was worried about him. "I will."

With that he closed the phone and immediately had it snatched away from him by one of Ian's goons.

"Alright, guys," he said after a moment of silence. "What are we doing? Where's Ian?"

It was nearly noon already, and Ben had still heard nothing from his ex partner. After diving off of the Intrepid's deck, he had been picked up by Shaw, given a dry set of clothes, and was now being driven from New Jersey back into the city. Only they were headed further uptown, rather than downtown where the treasure was supposed to be.

"We've got to pick him up," Shaw said, glancing at Ben through the rearview mirror where he sat squished between two of Ian's goons. "Him and one last piece of…_baggage_."

Ben felt his anger rise at the word 'baggage.' There was no doubt in his mind that they were referring to Riley, whom Ben hadn't seen or heard from in nearly thirty six hours. He hadn't seen Abigail since the day before either, but at least he'd been able to talk to her on the phone, however brief their conversation had been.

The day before he'd managed to preoccupy himself with treasure hunting and hiding from Ian and the authorities enough to forget how much danger his friend was in. Sure he was a jackass for doing so, but it was all he knew how to do. If something bothered him or made him upset his initial response was to push it away completely.

But after he had been captured by Sadusky and the FBI, he was left in a holding cell overnight with nothing to do but think about what he'd been trying not to dwell on. He could only imagine what Ian was doing to Riley. It was no secret that the British man disliked the young computer hacker. In fact there were a number of times during their treasure hunt that Ian informed Ben that Riley was a waste to have around and that he was nothing more than a piece of heavy baggage to drag along with them.

The car lurched over a bump, awakening Ben from his thoughts. He was surprised to see that they were in a parking garage under an apartment building.

"We're here," Shaw announced as he stopped the car.

The four of them piled out of the car and Ben followed Shaw to an elevator door. The other three stayed behind and started to pile into a dark SUV, but not before calling out for Shaw to "hurry up so we can get some damn treasure!"

The elevator ride was quiet and uneventful. In the lobby of the building they entered yet another elevator, where Ben remained silent while he rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet. Shaw shot him an annoyed look a few times, but still said nothing. Ben grinned inwardly at how obnoxious he was being, even if he was really just trying to mask the anxiety he was feeling.

They exited on the seventeenth floor and moved down the hall. Ben whistled when he saw how ornately decorated even the hallways were. "Nice place," he commented.

Shaw stopped in front of a door and opened it with a key card. They entered the apartment and Ben couldn't help but whistle in awe again. "_Very_ nice place."

"Ah, Benjamin. I'm so glad you could make it."

Ian got up from the comfortable looking chair he'd been lounging on with a content smile on his face. Ben barely noticed him though, as he was already looking around the room for someone else.

"Where is he, Ian?" Ben asked in a very low, very serious voice.

Ian stood next to him and clapped him on the shoulder. "How are you, Ben?" he asked as he pointedly avoided Ben's question. "No broken bones? A dive like that could kill a man."

"No it was great, you should try it sometime," Ben muttered. "Where is Riley?"

Ian's grin never faltered as he said, "in the dining room. Still napping, I suppose…"

There was something about Ian's smile and the calmly confident way he was speaking that made Ben very nervous. He pushed past Shaw and walked further into the apartment. He found the kitchen and turned to the right, where a long dining room table was sitting.

"Is this a joke, Ian?" he called as he sidestepped to look further into the room. "Because it's not—"

He stopped short with a gasp when he got a glimpse of the other end of the table. The chair at the head of the table had been knocked over onto its back. And on this chair was Riley, stuck to it awkwardly where his wrists and ankles had been tightly bound.

"Oh my God, Riley!" he called as he took shaky steps forward. He could see Riley's pale face now that he was closer as well as the cloth that was sticking out of his mouth. Ben fell to his knees next to his friend in shock. He hadn't thought Ian would especially be nice to him or anything, but this… It looked like the front of Riley's shirt was stretched and torn from being grabbed so much, and the material was stained with red. At first Ben had feared it was blood, but he realized after a closer examination that the texture was different. And it smelled like…tomato sauce…and some kind of alcohol?

He looked up and behind him to see Ian and Shaw still standing at the other end of the table, both with grins on their faces. Ben glared at them, feeling angrier than he ever had before in his entire life. He was about to yell something at them, and maybe throw some punches when he heard a barely audible whimper coming from the floor in front of him.

"Riley?"

Riley's eyes opened a tiny bit and squinted up at Ben in disbelief. He blinked a few times and his eyes widened as he mumbled something pathetically.

"Yeah, Riley," Ben said, his voice quivering with emotion. "It's me. You're okay. Everything's gonna be okay…"

Ben reached for the gag and pulled it out of his friend's mouth as gently as he could. Riley choked and winced as it was removed and took a gasp of fresh air only to end up in a harsh coughing fit. He turned his head to the side away from Ben and coughed and gasped miserably as he tried in vain to take a proper breath.

"Easy, Riley," Ben muttered as he ran a gentle hand through Riley's hair. "You're alright."

While Riley continued to cough and sputter Ben moved to undo the binds that restrained him to the overturned chair. He winced just looking at the cords and how tightly they'd been wrapped around Riley's thin wrists. Ben growled angrily and turned again to yell at Ian only to see that his ex partner had approached him from behind with a pair of lethal looking scissors in his hand.

Ben jumped back in surprise while Ian chuckled at him. "Here, Ben. I figured the FBI took your handy pocket knife, so you might need these. Shaw is quite a knot tier."

Ben glared at him and snatched the scissors out of his hand. "Could you…give us a minute please?" he snapped. When Ian gave him a funny look he added, "so get out of the room. _Now_."

Fury flashed over Ian's face for a second, but he complied. "Fine, Ben. I'll leave you and the little bastard alone. Take as long as you need. Shaw and I will be waiting outside." He started to turn away but added, "and no funny business, Ben. Or I promise you I will kill him." With that he left the room and soon after Ben heard the door to the apartment slam shut.

"Ugh…is he…is he gone?"

Ben turned to the barely audible, very raspy voice. "God, Riley. That sounds awful."

Riley coughed. "No…s'okay…" He cleared his throat slightly and winced, his head still turned away from Ben and his eyes squeezed shut. "He's…gone?"

"Yeah, Riley," Ben said softly, still cringing at Riley's rough voice. "Ian's gone and I'm going to get you out of here." He moved the scissors to one of Riley's wrists, being as careful as possible as he cut away the bonds.

Riley moaned miserably. "Ben…Ben you shouldn't have come…"

Ben freed Riley's right arm and was reaching for his leg. "I had to," he muttered as he focused on the task at hand. "I wasn't just going to leave you with Ian…"

"I know," Riley said softly. "That's the problem…"

But Ben continued. "…and I am so, _so_ sorry that any of this happened. That you got kidnapped and hurt…but most of all I'm…I'm sorry that I _let_ it happen. I've been taking you for granted, but yesterday and this morning I…I was scared of losing you."

Riley's face had relaxed from his grimace and he was no longer coughing, but he kept his eyes tightly shut.

"Riley?" Ben was moving to the other side of the chair to free Riley's left side starting with his leg but hesitated at his friend's unresponsiveness. "Riley…are you okay?"

Riley responded with an indecisive "meh."

"Look at me, Riley."

Riley opened his eyes a crack and slowly turned his gaze up to Ben's face. "Hey, Ben," he said softly.

Ben's heart broke when he saw how red rimmed and blood shot Riley's eyes were. "Hey, Riley."

"…'m sorry, Ben," he mumbled as his eyes focused on something off to the side, away from Ben's face.

Ben chuckled sadly and moved to cut the cords off of Riley's other ankle. "I thought I was the one apologizing here."

Riley groaned and closed his eyes again. "Ian's gonna…he's gonna get the treasure…b-because of me…he was always going to get the treasure because of me…"

"It'll be okay," Ben said softly.

"Yeah, right," Riley grumbled sarcastically.

Ben frowned deeply. He knew things were far from alright, but he hoped, as long as he knew Riley was okay, that he would feel better. Instead he felt guiltier.

As soon as he'd carefully freed Riley's left wrist, Riley, with a lot of effort, pulled his legs off the chair and turned his shivering body to the side facing away from Ben. He curled up, moaning while he rubbed at his bruised and chafed wrists. He was pointedly ignoring Ben.

"Hey…you're okay," Ben said softly. He didn't know how to deal with situations like this. He wasn't even sure what was wrong. Besides the bruises on his cheek and the lacerations on his wrists, there didn't seem to be anything physically wrong with Riley. "They didn't hurt you, did they?"

Riley let out a shaky breath. "N-no," he whimpered as he wiped at his face with his shaking hand. "J-just…tortured by p-p-pizza."

Ben blinked. That might have sounded funny, if not for the quivering fear in his voice.

"Pizza?" Ben slowly reached his hand to gently touch Riley's shoulder, only to have Riley flinch away from his grasp. "It couldn't have been that bad…" Ben said, though he honestly didn't know what Riley had gone through or what he was feeling.

"C-could you just take me home?" Riley said with a shaky voice.

"I don't think it's going to work that way, Riley," Ben said sadly.

Riley groaned. "You go find the treasure. I don't even care anymore…just wanna go home."

"Sorry Riley. We have to do what Ian says."

"Oh, man. But Ian's a jerk…"

"We don't really have a choice."

"I don't want to go with him," Riley moaned. "Not again."

The last couple words were said in a terrified whisper and Ben felt guilt twisting uncomfortably in his gut again.

"I'll be with you this time," Ben said after swallowing the emotional lump that had formed in his throat. "And I promise Ian won't be able to hurt you again."

Riley responded with a whimper and Ben placed a comforting arm on his shaking shoulder, glad that Riley wasn't flinching away from him this time. Instead he let out a quivering sob.

"You're okay," Ben said softly.

"Yeah…'m okay," Riley sniffled, though he sounded anything but.

Ben stared sympathetically down at his young friend. Physically Riley may have been fine, but emotionally he was a wreck from whatever Ian had done to him. And Ben only knew one thing he could do to help.

"Come here," he said as he reached his arms down to pull Riley into a tight hug.

Riley was stiff at first, having never been too comfortable with these sorts of affectionate situation. But after a minute of Ben gently patting his back and telling him everything was okay, Riley was reduced to shudders as he wrapped his arms around Ben's waist and buried his face in Ben's soft sweater.

"I'm sorry, Riley," Ben whispered. "I'm so sorry..."

* * *

_Terminator 4 sucked. I've never been so disappointed by something before. Never ever ever :(_


	6. The Great Escape Attempt

**Chapter VI: The Great Escape Attempt**

Abigail paced back and forth in front of the window of the café she'd been hiding in. She was getting some strange looks from the people there but she ignored them. She just couldn't sit around and wait anymore. She'd just hung up with Ben, who thankfully was okay and out of FBI custody. But now he was with Ian, and somehow that seemed even worse. And he still hadn't heard anything from Riley. The young man had been kidnapped for a day and a half now. God knows what could have happened to him by now.

"Screw it," she muttered as she came to a decision. She didn't know how much Ben had been able to tell the FBI while he was in custody but there was no way she was going to just let Ian get away with what he was doing. She left the café and ducked into a secluded alleyway and pulled out her cell phone.

"911, what is your emergency?"

"Yes, hello," she said breathlessly into the phone. "I need to get in touch with someone in the FBI."

"Regarding…" The 911 receptionist sounded less than amused.

"Ben Gates. I need to speak to whoever's in charge about Ben Gates and the Declaration of Independence, _right now_."

* * *

Ben waited patiently until Riley had composed himself and wiped the tears away from his eyes before helping him up. Riley winced and groaned as his stiff body was moved but didn't say anything. Ben was growing worried with his friend's sudden vow of silence, but shrugged it off to the trauma he'd suffered and the danger they were now in. He was sure once they were out of harm's way, Riley would be back to being Riley.

The younger man spent a good five minutes in Ian's bathroom and came out looking slightly more refreshed. Whatever sauce and grime had been left on his face was washed away and his hair was smoothed down slightly, but he still couldn't help the fact that his skin was pasty white and he had dark shadows under his bloodshot eyes. His clothes were a ruffled and stained mess, but there was nothing they could do about that now.

"You ready?" Ben said softly when Riley walked slowly towards him.

Riley shrugged. "No," he muttered. "Let's go."

Ben took a deep breath and pulled the door open. Ian and Shaw were standing out in the hallway talking in low voices but immediately halted their conversation when Ben and Riley stepped out of the apartment.

"Ah Ben," Ian said with a grin. "I was just about to send a search party in after you. And Riley," he said as he looked over Ben's shoulder at the smaller figure. "It's good to see you up and about. Care for some breakfast? I'm sure we can get some runny eggs to match the rest of the mess on you."

He and Shaw chuckled at the little joke while Riley glared hatefully at them. If looks could kill both of the men would have been dead on their feet right there in the hall.

"That's enough, Ian," Ben said sternly. "We just want to get this over with."

"Alright Ben," Ian said smugly. "But you do realize that this isn't going to be 'over with' until I have that treasure in my hands, wherever it may be. And if we don't find it here in New York, your little friend will suffer the consequences."

Ben turned to see Shaw come next to Riley and put an arm around his shoulders. It would have looked like a friendly gesture, had Riley not been wincing at the touch. Riley glared at Shaw for a moment before turning back to Ben. He could see that Riley was trying very hard to keep a brave façade, despite the fear that shone through his haunted eyes.

"Let's go get some treasure," Ian exclaimed.

Ian started down the hall and Shaw nodded for Ben to follow next. He did while constantly looking over his shoulder to see Riley being herded forward by Shaw who was keeping a tight grasp on the younger man's shoulders. They were back in the elevator, then down another hall and into the other elevator until they were in the parking garage. No one had seen them in the apartment building, and there was no one in the garage to see them either.

They approached the black compact car that Ben been driven to the city in. He turned to look behind him as Ian fished keys out of his pocket and saw that Riley was staring fearfully at the car's trunk. Ben felt his anger rising again as he realized what Riley's traveling accommodations must have been the day before. If Ian even tried to shove Riley in the trunk…well Ben wouldn't be able to hold back.

"You're riding shot gun, Ben," Ian called as climbed into the driver's seat.

Ben didn't move until he saw that a very relieved looking Riley was being forced into the back seat. He sank into the front passenger's seat and fastened his seat belt after sending Riley a reassuring smile. Riley didn't return the smile. He didn't even look at Ben from where he sat in the back seat, pressed as far into the door as he could get so he wouldn't be sitting too close to Shaw, who seemed to realize his close proximity was making the younger man uncomfortable. So, naturally, he sat as near to Riley as he possibly could.

"You have those magic glasses, I presume?" Ian asked while he kept his eyes to the road.

"Yeah," Ben muttered. "Yeah I've still got them."

"Good," Ian said. He looked in the rearview mirror at Shaw. "Pass up the Declaration. We might as well give Ben something to look at while we're stuck in traffic on the way downtown."

It was silent in the car, save for Riley's occasional coughs, while Ben carefully unrolled the document and set the glasses on his nose. He'd seen while in FBI custody how the different colors of glass revealed different hidden messages. He flipped the colors back and forth until he saw the new message.

"'Beneath Parkington Lane.' That's what it says."

"Partkington Lane," Shaw growled from the backseat. "Where the hell is that?"

Ben thought hard. "I'm not sure…why would the map tell us to go two different places?"

"You're the clue solver, Ben," Ian said. "Why don't you tell us?"

He shook his head. "Let's just get to Wall Street. Hopefully we'll find something there that can explain all this."

"You'd better hope the treasure is there, Ben," Ian threatened. "Riley stays with me if it isn't."

Ben didn't have anything to say to that. In fact he wasn't even sure himself where the treasure was. He really hoped it was in the city, for Riley's sake, though he couldn't help but hear his father's voice in his head, insisting that the treasure had never even existed in the first place.

"Alright, Ben," Ian said as he pulled the car over onto the side of the road. "Here we are at Trinity Church on the corner of Wall Street and Broadway, just like your first clue said. What are you proposing we do now?"

Ben shrugged. "Let's go inside the church and check it out. Maybe there'll be something there about Parkington Lane."

"Excellent. Shaw, call Phil, tell him where we are. We're not doing anything until we're all here, even Dr. Chase. I'm sure she's around somewhere."

Shaw had his phone to his ear but after a few more dialing attempts he looked at it in confusion. "No one's answering. Not Phil or anybody."

"What?!" Ian snapped. He pulled his own cell phone out and tried to call, but just like Shaw, he received no answer from his henchmen. "Damn it," he muttered. "Shaw, get out. Let's have a look around. You too, Ben, out of the car."

Ben reluctantly obeyed, figuring he didn't have much of a choice with a gun pointed at him. Riley moved to follow Shaw out of the car but was shoved back into his seat.

"Not you yet, Riley," Ian said. "You stay in the car until I'm sure nothing funny is going on. Safety locks are on, so don't even try to get out. Unless you want to know what the trunk of this car smells like."

Riley shook his head and looked absolutely terrified of the idea. He turned to Ben with wide eyes and Ben sent him the most reassuring smile he could muster in their currently grim situation. Shaw shoved him forward towards the church just as Ben caught sight of a familiar figure hovering in a doorway just across the street.

"Oh, no," he muttered as he felt all the color drain from his face.

The second Ian started to get out of the car to watch Shaw and Ben go, Sadusky and his men reacted, emerging from their hiding spots all around the church. Sadusky watched from his vantage point across the street while his team approached with guns at the ready. A couple of them apprehended Shaw, Ben, and the Declaration and pulled them further away from the car while the rest stalked toward it.

"Ian Howe," they yelled. "_Freeze_!"

But Ian didn't freeze. In fact he did the opposite of freezing. The second he'd realized he was in danger of being caught he did the stupidest thing possible—he tried to make a run for it. He ducked back into his car and started the engine just as a bullet whizzed past him and shattered his side mirror.

"No, don't shoot," Ben screamed as the other agents raised their guns to take shots at the vehicle. "Riley's still in there!"

Sadusky rushed forward when he heard what Ben was yelling. "Cease fire! We can't risk hitting the hostage!"

Ian had stepped on the gas and the car lurched forward blindly into traffic. Ben tried to see Riley through the back window but Riley was facing the front. In fact it looked like he was standing up in his seat while he reached over the back of the driver's seat to struggle with Ian over something.

The FBI agents and Ben ran after the car, but didn't have to go far. Ian had barely made it a block when he started to swerve erratically. He turned sharply and the car jumped the curb after side swiping a parked vehicle. Once on the sidewalk, Ian had nowhere to go but forward into the steel corner of a New York City skyscraper. The front of the car scrunched like an accordion when it hit the building's support beam and came to an abrupt stop.

"Oh my God," Ben gasped. "Riley!" He hesitated for just a second to take in the scene before sprinting down the block to the car with the FBI agents in tow and Sadusky, who was now yelling for crowd control to handle the amount of spectators the scene was already getting.

Shattered glass was everywhere and smoke was pouring out of the front of the crushed vehicle, making it hard to see if anything was moving inside. Ben's heart pounded in his chest as he rushed to the scene behind Sadusky's agents. He couldn't see Riley but he hoped that the younger man was okay. Ben had told him he would be okay, and Ben liked to keep his promises.

Suddenly the front driver's side door swung open and fell off its hinges onto the sidewalk. The FBI agents slowed their approach, forcing the apprehensive Ben to stop behind them. They had their guns at the ready again.

Ian Howe slumped out of the driver's seat and fell to his knees on the sidewalk. He was bleeding profusely from a wound somewhere on his head while he clutched at another injury on his stomach. It was hard to tell exactly what was wrong with him, though, because of all the blood that he was drenched in. He raised a shaky hand in defeat and looked up at the FBI agents. He parted his lips to say something but could only groan as another body suddenly landed on top of him.

Riley was pushing himself out of the car after Ian when his arm slipped and he fell gracelessly onto the other man's back. Riley looked like he was as much of a bloody mess as Ian was. He just lay there on his human body pillow, staring up at the sky and panting while Ian tried in vain to push him off.

Sadusky yelled for paramedics while Ben approached the injured pair. He didn't get very far though, as one of the agents holding the perimeter of the scene kept him at bay. He glared at the officer in frustration. He was only six feet away, but he still needed to be closer. He needed to know Riley was okay. "Riley…Riley?!"

"…'m okay, Ben," Riley gasped as though he knew exactly what Ben was thinking. He moved to wave his arm in Ben's direction to try to emphasize his point, but ended up making Ben feel sick to his stomach when he saw the unnatural angle the arm was pointing. "…well…sorta okay…"

"Oh my God…"

Ben managed to shove past the human barrier in his haste to get to his friend, and could just hear Sadusky telling his agents to let him go. Ben fell to his knees next to the pair of bodies and noticed that Ian had fallen unconscious. He looked awful, and though he deserved what he got, Ben hoped the other man hadn't died.

"Ben…Ben look," Riley said as he tried to lift his shaking broken arm. To Ben's surprise, he had a goofy smile on his blood stained face. Ben honestly couldn't tell what was so funny about the injured limb. "Check it out…I got a…a souvenir…"

But Riley wasn't indicating his twisted arm—he was showing Ben his fistful of blonde hairs. Ben chuckled when he saw it and realized that these were Ian's hairs. Riley must have been the one to make Ian lose control of the car during his hasty getaway.

"Good job Riley," Ben said softly, his voice choking with emotion. "I'm really proud of you."

"Thanks, Ben," Riley muttered as his eyes fell shut. He was barely lucid after falling out of the crushed vehicle, but Ben figured that was better than being completely unconscious, especially if he had a concussion.

"Riley," he said loudly. "Come on, Riley…you've got to stay awake until the paramedics get here…"

"I don't wanna," Riley whined. "Headache…"

"I think a headache is the least of your concerns right now," Ben said as he eyed Riley's right arm again.

"Yeah," Riley mumbled as his expression suddenly turned very serious. He tried to roll to his side and off of Ian but only managed to turn his head as he groaned, "I think…think I'm gonna…be sick."

Ben didn't know what to do to help his young friend. He was afraid to even touch Riley because of his injuries. All he could do was watch in horror while Riley suddenly convulsed as blood spewed out of his mouth.

"Oh, geez," Sadusky said from behind them. Ben wondered how long the FBI agent had been standing there. "Where are those EMTs?!"

Riley coughed and sputtered as his body still tried instinctively to turn to its side. Ben moved to help him as he reasoned that touching Riley's battered form would probably be better than letting him choke to death on his own blood and vomit. He moved to next to Riley and carefully tilted him so he was now lying on his side next to Ian's still unmoving and bleeding body. Ben kept a steady hand on Riley's right hip all the while staying clear of the injured arm and shoulder.

"Easy, Riley," Ben said softly as he knelt over his friend. Riley face was scrunched up in pain while he gasped. "You're going to be okay…you have to be okay…"

Seconds later Ben heard the wailing of sirens as the ambulances finally arrived. He reluctantly moved out of the way for the paramedics who quickly assessed their patients and strapped them to backboards. Ben was shocked when they turned Ian over for the first time—he had an extensive piece of metal embedded the middle of his torso. The paramedics left it in and hauled him into one ambulance, while Riley was carried into another, with the blonde hairs still clenched in his fist.

"He's in good hands, Mr. Gates," Sadusky said gently as he put a reassuring hand on Ben's shoulder.

Ben responded with a stiff nod. He didn't trust his voice enough to speak.

Sadusky led Ben to one of the FBI vehicles. "Come on, Ben. Dr. Chase is waiting to see you."

They didn't cuff him—they didn't even tell him he was under arrest, though Ben thought for sure he would be in trouble just for escaping FBI custody, among other things. "But…"

"Don't worry Mr. Gates," Sadusky said with a soft smile and a wink. "I think we've discovered who the _real_ villains are in this story. We'll just have another little chat and sort this whole thing out. Then you can go see your friend."

Ben just stared at him. As glad as he was to be getting out of jail time and having the charges against him dropped, all he really wanted to do was make sure Riley was okay.

"Thanks, Sadusky," he whispered.

"No problem, Mr. Gates."

* * *

_Only one more chapter to go :)_


	7. Finally Some Freakin' Treasure

**Chapter VII: Finally Some Freakin' Treasure**

As Ben was lowered deeper into the ancient pit, he stared at the decaying walkways and elevators. He couldn't even imagine trying to come down here on those and shuddered at how dangerous an endeavor that would have been. With the FBI's spelunking team Ben felt very, very safe.

He hit solid ground and was steadied by the pair of agents that were already waiting for him there. The two expert cave divers had found the alcove and gone in first to determine if the area was safe for travel. Ben was no stranger to exploring ancient sites, but the FBI weren't going to take any chances.

A minute after Ben landed Abigail fell next to him with a wide smile on her face. This whole adventure was an exciting change from her usually dull office job. The FBI undid their safety harnesses and beckoned them forward.

"Mr. Gates," one of them said as he led them through a small room furnished with only a lantern and into the next. "We seem to have hit a dead end," he said, pointing his bright flashlight at the far wall. "There are some markings there, so we figured we'd see if you had any ideas before we take a sledgehammer to it."

"Good thinking," Ben muttered. He definitely didn't want to have to use force to get in. First of all that could destroy some very valuable historical artifacts, secondly it would take a lot longer and Ben couldn't wait any more. He was already so close to finding the treasure he'd hunted for his entire life.

"Ben, look," Abigail said as she pointed at something in the wall. "There are indentations here."

He turned but didn't immediately look at what she was pointing at. His eyes fell on her beautiful face that was smudged with dirt from their dusty decent. He realized then that he had already found the first part of his elusive treasure—the woman of his dreams who shared his affinity for history. She caught him staring at her and smiled even as a blush rose in her cheeks.

"Hey! Don't look at her, look at the wall. I wanna see the thing on the wall!"

Ben winced as Riley's deafening voice sounded in his ear. He had—courtesy of the FBI, of course—a speaker in one of his ears and a small camera attached to his hard hat. These were both wirelessly connected to a monitoring system that was set up in the church so Riley, Sadusky, and the other agents could tell what was going on below ground.

"Come on, man," Riley whined. "Don't leave us hanging up here…"

Abigail's blush deepened and she turned away with the smirk still on her face. Apparently she could hear Riley just as well as Ben could.

"Alright, alright," Ben said as he turned completely to see what she had been pointing at. "There are indentations on the wall here," he muttered while he traced his fingers through it. After a second it hit him. "Could it really be that simple?"

"What? What is it?" the voice crackled in his ear.

"The secret lies with Charlotte," he said out loud. "Did any of Sadusky's men find that Meerschaum pipe after the accident?"

"Found the what now?"

"The pipe from the _Charlotte_…you know, the 'billion dollar pipe'…"

"Oh yeah…hey, Sadusky, did you guys…oh…yeah, that's the one. Hey Ben, we've got it. I'll bring it down to you, ASAP…"

"Don't even think about, Mr. Poole," Ben heard Sadusky say sternly. "Ben, we're sending someone down with the pipe now."

"Thanks, Sadusky."

"Oh, man," Riley whined. "Being crippled sucks."

Whining was all Riley had been doing ever since they'd gotten to the church, even if he did have all the FBI's observation technology he could ever need at his disposal. He wanted to be down there with Ben. And while Ben would have loved for the younger man to be with him to experience this, he knew it was safer for Riley to stay up top in his hospital loaned wheelchair.

It was a week after the accident outside of Trinity Church, and while the FBI had been pushing to explore the catacombs beneath the church, Ben had insisted that they wait until Riley could at least leave the confines of his hospital bed. Even now he wasn't allowed to walk on his own and he had the FBI's physician constantly hovering over him. Ben had briefly met the pretty young doctor and felt that Riley had nothing to complain about while he was in her care.

Ben had honestly feared for his friend's life after they had gotten him to the hospital. Apparently the impact of the crash had thrown Riley into the front of the car while Ian was held into the driver's seat by his seatbelt. Ian survived—a piece of shrapnel from the crushed front of the car had embedded itself in his belly, but miraculously hadn't severed any arteries or hit any major organs. Other than that he had an extensive head injury from where his forehead collided with the steering wheel of his car and a hefty chunk of hair missing from the back of his head. He was out of surgery long before Riley was.

Somehow Riley had collided with the front dashboard of the car while his right arm was still grasping onto Ian's hair. The arm was dislocated and both bones in Riley's forearm were badly broken. The bones had pierced nerves and muscle, and the doctors said he was lucky they hadn't broken through the skin. But that wasn't the worst of it. Riley had been bleeding internally from the impact, from where his ribs had broken against the dash and punctured one of his lungs. Ben heard something about a ruptured spleen, too, but by the end he couldn't even follow everything the doctors were telling him. Riley was in and out of surgery for two days—the scariest two days of Ben's life.

But if there was one thing Riley was especially good at, it was having a speedy recovery. Even while doped up on pain meds in the ICU all Riley did was crack nonsensical jokes and complain about the food, the bed, the blankets, the view from his window… He may have sounded obnoxious, but Ben knew from experience that Riley was back to normal. It had taken a lot of convincing before the hospital finally let Riley out, though he needed to stay safely seated in his wheel chair and then return as soon as they were done exploring.

"Ben, look," Abigail said loudly to pull Ben out of his musings. She pointed to the descending FBI agent who landed smoothly and pulled something out of the bag that was slung over his shoulders. He handed Ben the pipe and Abigail gasped in awe when she saw it.

"See," Ben said with a grin. "Bigfoot didn't take it."

She rolled her eyes as he stepped up to the wall. He studied the indentations carefully before breaking the stem off the pipe, just like he did in the _Charlotte_.

"Hey, don't break it…again," Riley said in his ear.

But Ben tuned out the voice as he focused on the task at hand. He fit the carved pipe into the wall and used the piece he'd broken off to turn the disk clockwise. A heavy grinding and shifting of ancient stone sounded from behind the door as it slid open. Abigail and the FBI agents gasped simultaneously as the wall opened up. Ben turned and looked at their bewildered features with a smug smile.

"Ha, we showed them. Right, Ben?"

"We sure did, Riley," Ben said as he turned back to the doorway. He shone his flashlight around in front of him and noticed a few shiny things as well as a turret filled with what smelled like gun powder. "Anybody got a match?" he called.

"Ooh, we do, up here…I'll be down in a second, Ben…"

Ben shook his head and laughed softly to himself as he heard Sadusky telling Riley not to get up from his chair, or he'd have the young man arrested.

"Killjoy," Riley muttered. "Sorry, Ben. You'll have to get your fire elsewhere."

"Thanks for trying, Riley," Ben said with a chuckle.

One of the FBI agents had appeared with a lighter and Ben carefully held it to the trench. In seconds the room was lit up as the flame traveled quickly down its laid out path. The sparkling reflection of the flame glinted off thousands of years of historical artifacts and treasures.

"Wow," Abigail whispered in awe while the FBI agents gasped in unison.

Ben was in shock. It looked exactly like he'd dreamed it would. He felt Abigail grasp his hand in hers and he smiled, feeling for the first time that everything he'd ever done, every stupid little clue, had been worth years of seemingly aimless searching.

"My, my, Mr. Gates," Sadusky said softly into the earpiece. "That truly is something…"

"Riley," Ben choked, his voice still lost from the shock of it all. Riley, who had been chatting his ear off before, was suddenly very quiet. "Riley, are you seeing this?"

After a moment, Sadusky answered. "We can see it, Ben. I believe Riley has tears of joy in his eyes."

Riley let out a shaky breath in Ben's ear. "Now I can pay for my hospital bills."

Ben laughed at that as similar tears sprung up in his own eyes. "You sure can, Riley," he said softly. "You sure can."

END

* * *

_Yay, another happy ending :) But now it's over. The reduxes are done. FINALLY. Phew._

_Okay, so now I just wanna take some time to thank all the great people that made these reposts possible. You guys who stuck with me back in November when the story was originally deleted and who encouraged me to repost are really the ones who made this happen. If it were up to me, I would have just left them—I was that pissed off at the time. So thanks LoremIpsum (as always), Traveler of Worlds (who used to be master of time), Miss Fenway, and Rose DiVerona. Thanks to all you guys who voted on the poll, but in the end it obviously didn't really matter. I was always going to post all the stories. Super duper thanks to my readers, and to my regular reviewers: LoremIpsum, Master of Time, Miss Fenway, InkStainedBlood, kutlessgurl90, and 19thpersonality (and I'm pretty sure that you last two were reading these stories for the first time, so it was always exciting to see your reactions to the chapters). Everyone who alerted and favorited these stories gets kudosed as well, especially shadowkat121 and Coldsoul1315 who favorited each and every one of the reduxes. If I missed anybody, you know who are and you know that I mean to thank you as well._

_So thanks a bunch everybody :)_


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